2021 Week 52

Happy New Year to all

I must have been a good girl in 2021 as I was very spoiled at Christmas:

My little gang of Ginger Fans in the villages outdid themselves!  Look at the awesome Gingers I received from them!!!!

This cross stitched card from Niki

These awesome goodies from Jim, Plum, Jackie, Niki and Kathy: things made for me and things to make!  Thank you all so much!!!!

And this advent calendar stocking from Sharon (must take a pic of the finished version)

In other news: Niki and I helped with Meals on Wheels on Christmas Day - and she got cuddles with Monty and that made her day!

Lisa was trying to finish Niki's Christmas pressie: a heavy (t-shirt yarn) crochet blanket but the cats had other ideas!

(Niki loves it !)

And so does Thor!!!

Photos of this years' (and last years') Julenissen flooded into my inbox and social media - it makes me so happy to see them!

  

  

  

  

Thanks to Alice I have now sussed crochet "magic circles" and have started on squares for a blanket using up oddments from my previous blanket

And I made a decision about my not-enough-wool-to-make-a-big-shawl-but-not-enough-money-to-buy-more-skeins problem. I overlapped the ends and stitched them in place so I have a cowl/scarf and I might have ordered some variegated wool and a pattern to make a big multicoloured shawl at far less cost than even the skein I bought so far of the original plan!!!

2021 Week 50

 Are you ready for Christmas???  I'm not - the sewing room is full of have finished projects and I dont even know who is coming over, or when!

People have been sending me pics of my tree decorations going on their trees - I love to see these!

 

Gingers have been taking part in next door's Elf on a shelf antics!

And I was asked to design and stitch a tangoing couple - I know the recipients as well as the giver - I hope they all like them!

I had a lovely play with Plum's small weaving look (here on Amazon, no affiliation) - thanks Plum: vintage (50 years or so old) knitted socks now mended again!

And a not too successful Ginger - he's wearing a waistcoat and a jacket with tails, but you really cant see any of the detail.  He's gone on the back burner while I think about him

Right - back to stitching out a set of three kings for the Vicar's Christmas pressie!!!!

2021 Week 49

Still playing catch up on blog posts 

I made a whole load of Countdown to Christmas Gingers for little people 

We had a bust Crafty Church at the end of November: back in the church as the hall had been hired.  The other village was about to host a Christmas Tree Festival and this pic shows people crocheting squares and others sewing them together

This is the finished blanket

And this is our competed 'tree'

And my Ginger Nativity tree

Lucy and I have agreed our blanket should be donated to the local Hospice.  They have a scheme called Blanket Therapy: People are offered the opportunity to be gifted a blanket when they arrive and it stays with them for their stay.  When they finally pass on the blanket is gifted to their family.  I think that's a lovely idea and hope our blanket can be a hug for someone who needs it!

I was taught how to start granny squares by a very patient Hayley - inconsistent size, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it!

I finished 60 Gingers for the local senior boys scvhiool

I am part of a monthly hexie swap: this were the incoming November hexie flowers

And I've prepped my outgoing December flowers.  They were supposed to be red and green  so the five that fit the spec and the oines taht have gone in the post and the white one is mine

The Chertsey Museum ladies' had great fun making Christmas Ginks / Julenissen - each one has it's own personality!

And I think I've finally finished my Christmas tree decoration julenissen, ready to go in the post to friends

2021 Week 47 (part 2)

 We had a lovely session at Richmond and Kew quilters . . . . fusion crochet!  Starting with a fabric square (with a substantial seam allowance): add blanket stitch and then crochet onto the blanket stitch.  I need to sort out 'stepping up' but this way I dont need help starting!!!

A whole load of ginger gnomes / tomte / Julenissen tree decorations have been made

and some stuffed versions with bells on their hats too

I was asked to make this digital design into a patch

and I'm quite pleased with the result - waiting to hear from the customer!

We had a day trip to "The making of Harry Potter"  - it was great . . .

. . . I hope it's not too sad that my favourite picture is this floor mosaic!

And finally a pic of me!  I don't often like pics of me, but I did like this one!

2021 Week 47

 Hmmm, no post for a month 😱

My excuse has been that I've been busy, busy and ill, ill, too ill to care about being busy and now busy again, with a hint of being ill!  At least I haven't had Covid - *just* a horrible cough and cold and then (without being guilty of TMI) a burning sensation that is being sorted by antibiotics!!!

So a review of the last month (broken down into two parts)

The Gingers have decided to start a countdown to Christmas!  I made a few of these to sell at a village Christmas Fayre, and a few others which will go to the half dozen or so lovely Ginger fans in the villages!  I'm just finishing them off so they can be delivered by Tuesday

A young friend in the village is an amazing cheerleader and trampolinist.  One of the groups she trains with have these sparkly backpacks with their names on in gold - she was gifted one but it had someone else's name on - so a gold patch was created and hand stitched onto the bag over the previous name

My girly trips (see under LSA labels) to Europe have all had a badge made for them.  It started with a backpack for the ones that went to Norway in 2007, with a norwegain flag on it, but they suggested that all the trips should have a design, so they got created and added to the bag.    Since then I have been making them as a patch - I've managed to lose my bag so have re-done them on a fleece shawl: it looks as if the other bags are getting rather full!!!

  

I have made and posted the November Hexie flowers for the FB swap

And taught a class on Sashiko embroidery.  I bought pre-printed panels but as we stitched in white it doesn't show very well 

A bit of grand-kitty spam, sorry, but aren't they cute!!!  Penny is sat in the pouch Jackie and I made Niki for her work stuff

And Thor is sat in a cat cave that (based on the receipt date) he and his sister have totally ignored for 367 days, but NOW its a cozy place to sleep!!!

At the start of the horrid cold I had a few days away with girls that I worked with about 30 years ago: so lovely to be together

And finally for this post - I had fun sorting out all the keys for the village hall - now I only need the few keys to get in and then can access all the other stuff from this key cabinet - I love that it's colour co-ordinated and all labeled - is it very sad that this makes me so happy???